Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Joe Goldberg (third from right) took on David Cameron for Labour

The next general election might be hard to predict, but many candidates in so-called safe seats can already be confident they will lose. What drives people to spend months knocking on doors, only to get roundly thrashed on polling day?

Well over half of the 650 seats up for grabs are "very unlikely to change hands" on 7 May, according to the Electoral Reform Society.

"You get nothing, absolutely nothing, it will be a very lonely experience. Your party will be very small, many activists will be drafted into marginal seats, it must be a very dispiriting experience."

Prof Fielding said the use of safe seats as a "stepping stone" for future high-flyers seemed to be diminishing, as more favoured candidates are propelled into close-fought marginals or safe seats of their own.

But it has been the first step on the Westminster ladder for many leading figures in British politics.

They include Boris Johnson, who ran in the safe Labour seat of Clwyd South ("I fought Clwyd South - and Clwyd South fought back", he said) and Tony Blair, who came a distant third in a by-election in Tory stronghold Beaconsfield South in 1982.

Former Home Secretary and Conservative Party leader Michael Howard has fond memories of his first two attempts to get elected, in Liverpool Edge Hill in 1966 and 1970.

"I enjoyed them both tremendously," he says.

"In some respects, particularly in the first election, it was a bit lonely.

"I remember canvassing on my own in the snow - it was quite a cold winter - but apart from other occasions like that, I had a small but very loyal band of followers, we worked together and had a lot of fun.

"The electorate was not at all hostile, obviously it was a Labour seat but very friendly and very funny.

Image copyrightAPImage caption
Michael Howard's journey to the Cabinet began with defeat in the Labour stronghold of Liverpool Edge Hill

"A lot of people said they would never vote for me in a month of Sundays, but they said it with great humour."

"You're not going to beat David Cameron when you're standing in Witney, it's not going to happen," the 38-year-old says, insisting that despite the "huge commitment" his campaign required, he does not regret it "for a minute".

Taking part in a Hustings debate against the Tory leader was "something to tell the grandchildren", he says.

But his reason for standing is probably shared by also-rans across the country.

"It's about making sure that there's a voice for people who have a slightly different point of view," he adds.